Introduction

Thank you for purchasing a WordPress template. This documentation consists of several parts and covers the entire process of installing and setting up a WordPress website starting from scratch.

What is WordPress CMS?

WordPress is a free open-source blogging tool and content management system (CMS) based on PHP and MySQL. With
its help you can create and administrate websites or powerful on-line applications without possessing any special
technical skills or knowledge. Due to its ease of use and flexibility WordPress has become the most popular
platform for website development.
Learn More

What is a WordPress Template?

A WordPress template is a theme for the WordPress CMS platform. You can easily change your website appearance by installing a new WordPress template in a few easy steps. Despite its simplicity, a WordPress template contains all the necessary source files that can be altered the way you need.

Template Structure

The template package includes several folders. Let's check what's inside:

documentation

contains documentation.

documentation.html

the main documentation file that you are reading at the moment :)

screenshots

contains screen-shots of the template. However, they are not required to edit the template.

sources.zip

contains theme source files.

psd

contains Adobe Photoshop source files (.psd).

theme

contains WordPress theme files.

CherryFramework.zip

archive with the Cherry Framework theme. Contains all theme files. It must
be installed through WordPress extension manager.

theme####.zip

archive with the theme (child theme). Contains all theme files.
It must be installed through WordPress extension manager.

sample_data

contains the files that make the WordPress website look like our live
demo.

sample_data.xml

contains all template sample data (posts, pages, categories, etc).

widgets.json

contains widgets settings.

various images and media files.

manual_install

contains files that make the WordPress website look like our live demo.

uploads

contains theme images.

theme#####.sql

database file (contains theme content).

license.txt

contains license information.

fonts_info.txt

contains links to download fonts used in the template. (The file is optional and can be not included in the package).

info.txt

instructions on how to extract source files.

Preparation

Before installing a WordPress website, you need to get fully prepared. We recommend you to get the following aspects covered:

Software

Before you start working with the WordPress template, you should download the required software. You can check the required software on the template preview page.
Requirements can alter from template to template, so we will list the most important ones:

First of all, you will need the right software to extract the files from the password protected sources_#########.zip archive. You can use WinZip 9 or a later version (if you have Windows OS) or Stuffit Expander 10 or a later version (if you have Mac OS).

You might also need Adobe Photoshop. It is used to edit the source .PSD files in case you need to change the graphic design and images of the template.

To edit the template source code, you can use code editors like Adobe Dreamweaver, Notepad++, Sublime Text, etc.

To upload the files to a hosting server, you will need an FTP manager like Total Commander, FileZilla, CuteFTP, etc.

Hosting

As WordPress CMS is a PHP/MySQL platform, you need to have the hosting server prepared for it.

In case you already have a hosting server, you need to check whether it is compatibile with WordPress hosting requirements , in other words, whether you can host a WordPress website with it.

PHP and MySQL

Minimal required version of PHP is 5.2.4 and MySQL 5. PHP 5.2 is already not safe as contains critical vulnerabilities that can be used to harm your website. Some Cherry Framework extensions will not work with PHP 5.2 and require version 5.4 or later.

Recommended settings are:

PHP 5.4

MySQL 5.5 or later

mod_rewrite

php fopen

suPHP

You can also install WordPress on your PC or laptop through a local server. You can use the next software to create a local server: WAMP, AppServ, MAMP, etc. All of these support WordPress and can be installed as regular software.